


Hide and seeking

by Needs_to_stop_looking_at_valves



Category: Transformers Animated (2007)
Genre: Bets & Wagers, Fluff, M/M, Smooching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:08:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21895672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Needs_to_stop_looking_at_valves/pseuds/Needs_to_stop_looking_at_valves
Summary: The dinobots miss Scrapper and Mixmaster, forcing Prowl and Bulkhead to cheer them up. Little did they know, a little game led to some feelings.
Relationships: Bulkhead/Prowl
Comments: 6
Kudos: 25





	Hide and seeking

**Author's Note:**

> This is a commission for a VERY good friend of mine, @Jarofloosescrews on tumblr! Hope you all like it!

"How you think Snarl is handling all of this?"

Scrapper and Mix had gone on vacation (New York in case you were wondering. For some reason they felt the need to go to this place specifically), leaving the bots alone on dinobot island, and according to Fanzone, this caused quite the commotion amongst them all. Prowl shrugged as he held onto his box of treats, simultaneously checking on the coordinates on the ships controls.

"He's probably the worst of them all, what with how close him and Scrapper are. Remember once at the Christmas party, Snarl knocked him off his chair because he wanted to be in his lap?"

"In Snarl's defense, his lap was wide open, he had it coming."

Prowl lightly chuckled at Bulkhead's defense, trying not to look too amused at the others defense of the dinobot. He couldn't help it though, Bulkhead was an amusing mech, and Prowl meant that in the kindest way possible. Afterall, he considered Bulkhead a VERY close friend of his. Having his back on and off the battlefield, in hiding the dinobots as long as they did, and even in emotional support. Bulkhead had a spark to match his frame. Not that Prowl was paying attention to such things.

"Prowl, we're dockin'"

Prowl nodded as the boat soon came to a halt. Bulkhead helped carry the other two boxes, walking behind Prowl as he made it to the open clearing of the island. As much as Bulkhead helped care for the autobots, they tended to like Prowl more (he tried leading the way once before, which led Grimlock to promptly throttle him into the ground). Beating them up that one time probably wasn't helpful, even AFTER he said sorry. Prowl set the crate down, and allowed Bulkhead to drop the other two, as well as letting him open the crates. The boxes were full of asphalt chip cookies, all made by Arcee, in hopes to console the 'poor dears', as she called them. The second the lid was off the third box, the dinobots came roaring on in, practically tackling each other to get into their respective boxes. Prowl chuckled as they started ravaging their contents.

"I think they like it."

"Think so too. Arcee's cookies ARE the best."

The joy didn't last long however, as they soon found out by the time Snarl burped, and plopped himself into Prowl's hands. He gave a whimper as the other two joined in, leaning onto Bulkhead in comfort. Particularly Grimlock, who's chin rested on top of Bulkhead's helm.

"Dinobots miss fat bot and tall bot...especially Snarl. Snarl cry for DAYS…."

"Oh come now you three. Mixmaster and Scrapper are only going to be gone for two weeks."

"How long two weeks?"

"Fourteen days."

They all groaned loudly, and Snarl, completely unsatisfied with the answer, mouth opening wide, began to give a loud, pitiful wail, as if he was in pain. Prowl held onto his cheeks, frowning.

"Snarl, no, please relax. It'll be over before you know it, I swear."

Snarl refused to be consoled, wailing pitifully. So loudly, Prowl had to adjust his audials in order not to get an ache in the processor. Grimlock grumbled from his spot on top of Bulkhead.

"Snarl say he misses Scrapper playing with him. Feel lonely."

Snarl confirmed the statement, via a louder wail that made even Grimlock wince. Prowl silenced him, lightly stroking his nose. Once he saw the little tears swell in his optics, he knew he had to do SOMETHING. 

"Snarl, why don't we play one of those games? Would that make it hurt a little less?"

Snarl gave a light whimper, still upset at the idea of Scrapper not being the one to play with him. Though, he DID have Prowl, which wasn't too bad, he supposed. Snarl gave a nod, much to the delight of Prowl. It was music to his audials, quite literally. 

"Alright, so what DO you want to play?"

Snarl gave a whine, and Grimlock cocked his helm to the side.

"Snarl say he want hide and seek."

Now as you'd imagine, Prowl was quite good at said game, both in hiding and finding. If he wanted to win, he'd offer to seek. Though the whole point was to distract the bots for a while, so he had an idea.

"Bulkhead, why don't you seek?"

"Sure! Be fun! Tell you what, I'll count to ten. You guys want in?"

The other two bots, without even waiting for Bulkhead to turn around, gave a loud screech, before running off, with Snarl following close behind. Prowl chuckled as he nudged Bulkhead.

"Think you can find us all?"

"Hey, I'm no ninja bot, but I'm the MASTER of hide and seek. I bet I can find all of you."

"I've been taught gambling is quite the vice. However, I've also been taught not to waste an opportunity. A wager it is. If I manage to hide well enough for you, and win, you get my patrol routes for a whole two weeks. I want yours, I much prefer the park."

"Deal. And if I win…"

He went silent, and spoke, immediately wishing he put at least a few seconds of thought into his words.

"If I win, you gotta kiss me!"

There was a very uncomfortable silence between them as the words hung in the air. Bulkhead contemplated bashing his helm on a tree and knocking himself out, or throw his weight into the lake and sink to the bottom, anything to get out of this situation. He tried to rectify the situation, say anything else, before Prowl chuckled, lightly patting the others servo.

"Alright, deal."

"W...what?"

"I said it's a deal. If I win, we trade routes. You win, I'll kiss you. Amongst the tutelage of Yoketron, such affections are a common sign of respect."

Bulkhead should play the lottery, with how lucky he felt. For a brief moment, he thought he'd not only humiliated himself in front of someone as cool as Prowl, but revealed that he really, really didn't see the action as JUST a sign of respect. Not to mention that respect wasn't the ONLY feeling he had towards the ninja. Prowl leapt up to the nearest branch, with a small, confident smirk upon his face.

"Count to ten. Say it loud so we can all hear you. Good luck."

Prowl dashed off without a trace. Bulkhead exhaled, his spark finally resting. He knew he wasn't the highest quality block on the energon farm, but even THAT was bad. He tried to ignore it as he covered his optics with his servos, raising his voice.

"One! Two!..."

He heard a shuffling of steps.

"Three! Four!"

Shaking of branches. 

"Five! Six!"

A light chirp.

"Seven! Eight!"

A creak of wood, a crunch of leaves.

"Nine! And ten!"

Bulkhead pulled his hands away, looking around. Silence. He chuckled as he took a few steps towards the center of the island, not at all surprised at seeing Swoop in the trees, munching on the fruit from its branches. Bulkhead tried not to smirk as he shoved his shoulder against the tree, holding his arms out just in time to catch Swoop in his arms. Swoop exhaled steam from his nose, clearly not pleased from being the first to be found.

"Sorry Swoop, you lose. Come on, help me find everyone else."

Swoop hesitated, but obeyed, transforming into bot mode before walking off into the distance, in search for the others. Bulkhead chuckled, walking in the opposite direction, towards the pond area of the island, not surprised by seeing optics poking out for a moment, before sinking back under water. Bulkhead picked up a stone, and skipped it across the water, plenty amused when it plunked against Grimlock's armor, causing Grimlock to snort as his helm popped up, a lily pad still upon his helm, as if he was wearing a little hat (and now that he had that idea, he was so going to bring it up to Sari, who had taken to the habit of knitting. Grimlock was going to be absolutely adorable).

"Why you ALWAYS find Grimlock?!"

"Because you always leave it to see where I'm at. Good job though, this is new. If you stayed there, might've not found you. Bath times over though, we got Snarl and Prowl to find."

"Grimlock knew you'd find Swoop first. So small, easy to find."

Grimlock got out of the water, shaking the wetness off, much like a dog. Bulkhead carefully peeled the frog from his face, setting him down and apologizing. Poor little guy. Grimlock went on ahead, while Bulkhead went towards the dense forest area, suspecting that the other two were hiding here.

"Prowl? Snarl? I found everyone else, you guys might as well just give up!"

Prowl meanwhile, was looking right at Bulkhead. He was hiding above the tree branches, well outside Bulkhead's sight. Snarl however, was in his favorite hiding spot. Underneath a giant pile of leaves and dirt, simultaneously covering his face in his hands. Bulkhead saw him immediately, just a few feet away. It was amusing though, watching Bulkhead absolutely milk it.

"Oh geez, where IS Snarl? I don't think I'll EVER find him! Oh geez, I'll find Prowl before I even come CLOSE to knowing where Snarl is!"

Snarl, clearly proud of himself, wagged his tail madly, kicking up quite the dust cloud. Bulkhead walked past him, pretending not to notice the obvious dino next to him. Prowl couldn't help but chuckle as he watched on, Bulkhead being so close to finding Snarl quite a few times. It was unnecessary, completely, but it was terribly sweet, and clearly meant the world to the previously mourning dino. It was when Bulkhead turned the corner, trying to look for him behind a tree, that Prowl knew he had to take action. He hopped from his tree, to another, sitting down on a branch, and letting himself fall back, snickering as Bulkhead shrieked in surprise. 

"Bulkhead. I saw you struggling to find Snarl. Tricky, isn't he?"

"Y-yeah. He's pretty elusive. More than you, apparently. You lose, Prowl."

"Hmm...suppose I do. Oh well. A loser must acknowledge his losses."

Before Bulkhead could say more, he was suddenly still as stone. Prowl had held onto his chin, and pressed his lips against the green metal. His lips, if Bulkhead was forced to describe it, was light, soft, how he'd picture it'd feel if it came from a butterfly. It made him think how it'd feel, if it dared touch his lips. Prowl chuckled, holding onto his chin in almost contemplation. The image of the others face aflame, mouth agape and optics unbelieving. It was something he told himself he wouldn't forget.

"Bulkhead?"

"Y...yeah?"

It wasn't any exaggeration to say Bulkhead wasn't thinking Prowl was going to keep his end of the bargain. 

"I don't think you're going to find poor Snarl. You might as well quit so we can just go home. Besides, you have yet to reap your reward."

"But...didn't you just?..."

"Oh that? Did you really think THAT was your reward? No. That was for me, Bulkhead. Your reward...well, a ninja keeps his passion in the shadows. In this case, the shadows within the boat ride home."

"ALRIGHT SNARL YOU WIN!"

Bulkhead didn't know why he was yelling, just that he really, REALLY wanted to get on that boat right about now. Snarl busted out of his hiding space, stomping and bucking and tail wagging. Snarl really was adorable. But not as adorable as a certain big, green mech, whose face was burning as Prowl held onto his servo as they boarded the boat again. It was no different from the ride here, if you excluded the fact that Prowl had a much better seat, and Bulkhead was handsomely rewarded in his prize. Even as they returned, with Prowl covering his mouth and chuckling, and Bulkhead avoiding eye contact with those around them, Bulkhead didn't at all regret losing. In fact, remembering how soft, how rich and full (like the creamiest energon goodie) a certain ninja bot's lips were upon his own, only made him ready to make another bet with Prowl. Who knows?

Maybe he could get an even better reward.


End file.
